Rahul to shake up Congress; Azad, Tytler may lose party posts

Congress leaders who chose to stay silent during Rahul Gandhi’s recent visits to their states might soon regret it, given the party is going to undergo a makeover that will be the result of the party vice president’s interactions with workers during his nationwide tour and his own examination of the party’s workings. The organisational revamp, coming on the heels of rival BJP making similar structural changes, will reportedly bear a clear ‘imprint’ of the Congress Vice President’s decisions, and will first result in a  reshuffle of All India Congress Committee (AICC) office bearers and then a change in the Union Council of ministers, reported the Indian Express.  And as with everything in the Congress, the final decision will be approved by party president Sonia Gandhi. [caption id=“attachment_867795” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The new Congress line up will bear Rahul Gandhi’s stamp. PTI[/caption] “The high command will decide the timing of the announcements,” a senior leader was quoted as telling the Hindustan Times. Within the Congress, the AICC secretaries will be given more power over the state units and there are over a dozen new secretaries to be appointed, with Ghulam Nabi Azad, Jagdish Tytler and Janardhan Dwivedi the most prominent among those who are likely to lose their positions. Azad and Tytler will lose their positions as general secretary and party in-charge of Orissa , while Dwivedi who has been heading the media cell is likely to give up his post. While Azad is likely to lose the post because he’s also juggling ministerial duties, Tytler’s move is likely to have been prompted by the controversies surrounding him. The Union cabinet may also see some new faces with portfolio changes being implemented with CP Joshi, who holds two portfolios giving one of them up and other Minister of State posts being filled up.